Cookie Dough
by sarahswimmer1995
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies went their separate ways over the summer to deal with the events in the Season 7 finale. They reunite in LA to work for a certain demon law firm, where Buffy has a reunion of her own with the dark haired soulful vampire she once loved. Can they pick up where they left off? Or are they destined to love from afar?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This story takes place after the Buffy Season 7 finale and does not include the events of Angel Season 5. **_

Chapter 1

Buffy had lived only 22 years, but the last eight of those years had felt like 800. She had died twice, and come back to life twice. She had had to kill her one true love, and care for him when he returned from the depths of hell. She had dated two vampires, she had staked too many vampires to count. A little sister had been placed into her life and integrated into her past. She had almost lost all her friends at one time or another, and had actually lost quite a few friends forever. She had lost her mother as well, whom she had loved so dearly. Most recently, she had helped to lead an attack on The First Evil that resulted in the complete destruction of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth. She had lost two good friends while making that happen though. One of which she might have even loved. One change she appreciated though was that with over 1500 slayers across the globe, she had definitely lost her feeling of loneliness.

Dawn, Buffy, Xander and Willow had spent that entire summer trying to figure out what to do next. While staying with Mr. Summers, Dawn took a class in L.A. that got her an early high school diploma. She figured that it was just a nuisance on the Scoobies if they had to find her a high school to go to. She had talked it over with Buffy, who didn't like the idea, and they eventually agreed. Buffy had realized that neither she nor Dawn would ever be normal. Even if Dawn wasn't a slayer, she was just as much a part of that world as any other slayer was. It was silly to think that either one of them could ever live a normal life when they themselves were not even remotely average.

Buffy had been making trips to every location that might have a slayer. She wanted to make sure that everything was the way it was supposed to be. She called Dawn almost every day to check on her and make sure she knew that she would be coming back to get her. Buffy was trying to put her feelings of losing Spike into perspective during this time. On the one hand, Spike had died a champion. He had pretty much destroyed the Hellmouth by himself. Buffy loved him for that. He understood her too. In some ways, he knew her better than anyone else ever could hope to. On the other hand, he had done some terrible things, and he was a monster. She also wasn't sure if she had really loved him enough for it to count in the long run.

Xander had accompanied Buffy on her trips around the world. He was grieving Anya while Buffy grieved Spike, so he needed the escape as well. Angel had funded their travels. Wolfram and Hart was looking to support the cause and the new generation of massive amounts of slayers. Xander had always felt like the average joe in the Scoobie gang, but now he felt like he had a greater purpose. Angel had sent a Wolfram and Hart representative to tell him how much they needed someone like him at the firm. Xander could never go back to a normal life after what happened to him over the past two years. Losing Anya had taught him that he wasn't meant to be some suburban dad with two kids and a white picket fence.

Willow and Kennedy were helping out in Cleveland, the location of another Hellmouth. Willow now was able to perform magic without turning into "Evil Willow." Kennedy was a great leader to the ten other slayers in Cleveland. Since she had grown up learning the ways of the slayer, she definitely had an upper hand. They were falling more and more in love every day. Willow had begun to really let go of the anguish from Tara's death. She was finally moving on, though there would always be a piece of Tara with her, no matter what.

Giles was doing his best to train a new crop of Watchers, though in America instead of England. He was living in New York, knowing he really didn't have any home or family to return to in England. Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Willow were more his family than anyone else, and that was enough to keep him in the States.

Today was Dawn's final day of high school though, and that meant that the Scoobies were going to reunite. Buffy and Xander were on a plane back from Cambodia, where they had met some really nasty looking frog demons. Willow and Kennedy were also flying home, and met up with Giles during his layover in the Cleveland airport.

"Giles!" Willow ran to the grey haired Englishman as soon as she caught sight of him. "I missed you!"

"Willow," Giles smiled fondly.

They embraced in a father daughter hug, though not an ounce of their blood was the same. They pulled back and examined each other from head to toe. Willow's red hair had grown lighter and she had cut it back up to her shoulders, but other than that she looked pretty much the same.

"You cut your hair," Giles remarked.

"You—are those new glasses?" Willow laughed.

"Well, uh, yes, actually they are," Giles took them off, cleaning the lenses. "Thank you for noticing."

They stood beaming at one another for a moment, and then were started by a loud thud next to them. Kennedy cleared her throat loudly after dropping her suitcase on the ground.

"And, of course, you remember Kennedy?" Willow said.

"Ah, yes. Kennedy, how are you?"

"I'm great," Kennedy chuckled. "How about we get on this plane before it takes off without us, though?"

"Yes, we wouldn't want to miss Dawn's graduation," Giles quickly agreed, picking up his bags.

The trio stepped up to the gate and boarded the plane, catching up with each other's activities from over the summer.

"…it was the most revolting smell I've ever gotten from a demon, Giles," Willow was laughing. "I don't know how Kennedy and I made it out of there alive. The smell alone nearly killed us."

Meanwhile, Xander and Buffy had gotten off their plane at LAX. They searched for a rental car agency, but found a person holding up a piece of paper that said "Summers and Harris" on it outside of their gate. Buffy grabbed Xander before he could meet the person.

"Xander!" Buffy hissed. "He could be dangerous. We don't know if he's even human."

"Buffy, since when do we ever deal with anyone who is actually human?" Xander retorted. "He's wearing the Wolfram and Hart logo on his jacket."

"Oh, well better safe than sorry," Buffy sighed sheepishly.

"Even if he is dangerous, I am sure we could take him."

"True."

They approached the man holding the sign with more apprehension than caution.

"I am Buffy Summers and this is Xander Harris," Buffy spoke confidently.

"Great to meet you," he shook both their hands with a great big smile and enthusiasism. "My name is Paul. I will be your driver for today."

After having spent months of living in third world countries, riding in a limo sparked a bit of excitement among Buffy and Xander. They popped open a bottle of champagne, celebrating their return.

"Where are we headed first, Paul?" Buffy called up to the driver.

"Wolfram and Hart," he smiled as he replied. "The CEO would like to extend his gratitude for your efforts this summer."

Buffy knew Angel would be there, but she didn't know what position he was in at the firm. She wasn't sure if she was ready to see him yet. She definitely had strong feelings for him, but he was so much a part of her future, the future that she hadn't been ready for not too long ago... It was a big firm though, so she doubted that they would run into one another.

"Cool," she and Xander grinned at one another, clinking their flutes together.

They reached the CEO's office, chatting with Wesley the whole way.

"Alright, you two should enter," Wes directed. "He'll be expecting you."

As Buffy opened the door, laughing at a one liner Xander had said, she was not prepared for the appearance of the tortured, brown haired man behind the desk. She wasn't expecting to come face to face with the man, well vampire more accurately, whom she had kissed and loved with such passion, and just last Spring had shared a kiss with once again.

"Angel," she said simply, in a voice that summed up their entire history with that one word.

The human girl and the vampire man stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, completely forgetting the third person in the room.

"Well, this is a surprise," Xander said, too shocked to come up with a good joke.

The sound of Xander's voice broke the trance between Buffy and Angel and they averted their eyes away from one another.

"So, uh, I just wanted to say thank you for your work this Summer," Angel began, clearing his throat. "And offer you both positions here at the firm if you so choose to be a part of Wolfram and Hart."

"Can I have a secretary?" Xander quickly asked.

"Wha-Yes, I guess…" Angel had not been around Xander in a long time and had forgotten what he was like.

"And an office?" Xander asked. "And how does a vampire have an office with windows? Are you a work at night kind of CEO?"

"Xander," Buffy said warningly.

"What?" Xander asked, then realizing that Angel and Buffy probably needed to talk, he cleared his throat. "You know what, I am just going to work out that whole secretary situation with good ol' Wes out here. You kids play nice now."

There was an awkward moment of silence after the door shut behind Xander, and then Buffy began to talk.

"So you're the CEO, huh?" she smiled.

"Yeah, it's kind of new to me too," Angel smiled back, knowing almost exactly what she was thinking.

"Angel, I know that I told you I needed time to shape myself still, but… I think I've shaped enough. I destroyed the town that was not only the center for things from hell, but my home for seven years. After spending the past few months finding myself, I figured out what I want."

"What do you want, Buffy?" Angel asked with a half smile on his face.

"Willow," she said with the utmost conviction.

Angel kind of blinked for a minute to process the information, and then Buffy burst out laughing.

"I am totally joking," she smiled at him. "I want to try us again."

"Oh, thank god," Angel sighed with relief. "That was turning out to be a very awkward conversation."

They both laughed and looked at each other.

"How about we go get some coffee some time?" Buffy laughed, reminding Angel of a little inside joke they had shared what felt like ages ago.

"That sounds great," Angel replied.

"I want to accept your job offer as well," Buffy replied with a smile. "However, I need a couple weeks to spend time with Dawn and get all set up with an apartment and everything."

"Of course, I understand," Angel smiled. "Take all the time you need."

He was close to her now. Her human body heat was mixing with his cool temperature, creating a tingling storm in the small space between them. They were looking into one another's eyes, their faces inching closer together. Buffy wanted to kiss him. She needed to feel the ice on his lips matching the fire of her own. They were so close, but then Buffy pulled away, looking down.

"So how about coffee tomorrow night?" she laughed nervously. "There's a cute coffee house by my dad's place."

"I know the place," Angel smiled, taking a much needed step backward. "Sunset is at 7:36 tomorrow, so how about 8:00?"

"Sounds good," Buffy grinned at him, before walking out the door.

"Buffy?" Angel called after her.

"Yeah?" Buffy reappeared.

"It really is great to see you," Angel smiled.

Buffy smiled back and walked out of his office.

"Wait a minute," Dawn interrupted Buffy's retelling of what happened in Angel's office. "Are you telling me that you two didn't kiss?!"

"Yes, Dawn," Buffy shook her head.

"You, Buffy Summers, and he, Angel- what is his last name anyways?- did not kiss?!" Dawn asked incredulously.

"You got it," Buffy smiled.

"Buffy, WHY NOT?!" Dawn whined.

"Because, we are being grownups about this," Buffy replied. "We're trying to do this the mature way."

"Buffy, no offense, but when has that ever worked out for either one of you?" Willow asked pointedly.

"You really have a type, don't you, Buff?" Kennedy snorted. After spending two weeks with Willow and Kennedy in Cleveland, Buffy had grown used to Kennedy's snide remarks. They kind of reminded her of Cordelia.

"Well I for one, am glad to know that Buffy has learned a bit of self-control," Xander stated.

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. They had celebrated most of the night away, already having mushy reunion hours ago. They were definitely back to being comfortable enough to tell each other exactly what they thought and felt without reservations. Giles and her dad had gone to bed hours ago. It was nice being able to depend on her dad to look after Dawn all summer, and she liked to think that it had not been mostly Dawn taking care of him for the summer. Though that was probably just wishful thinking. Hank had provided guardianship legally of Dawn for the summer. That was all it meant to him or Dawn, honestly. Dawn had always blamed him in the divorce and sided with her mother. Buffy had had her issues with both parents, but felt her mother had actually been around when she needed her, so she was the one who had parented Buffy as well. Dawn would be 18 very soon though and then they wouldn't need to worry about the legal guardian issues anymore.

"Dawn we should go apartment shopping tomorrow," Buffy told her.

"WOAH! You can't just change the subject," Dawn interjected. "When are you going to see him again? When do the rest of us get to see him?"

"The rest of us _get to _see him is a loosely used phrase there, Dawnie," Xander quipped.

"We are going out for coffee tomorrow," Buffy replied.

Willow and Buffy looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"What? What did I miss?" cried Dawn and Xander over the giggling.

"The first time I asked Angel out on a date, it was to coffee, and he freaked," Buffy responded. "Then, after he agreed, Cordelia intercepted him and had coffee with him before I got there."

"I guess you had to be there," Dawn said sourly as Willow and Buffy continued to laugh.

"Don't worry, Dawnie," Xander gave her a quick squeeze. "I was there, and I still don't get what's so funny about it."

"My god, I am so jet lagged," Buffy stated as soon as the laughter stopped. "I think I am going to sleep now."

"Agreed," said Xander.

"Night, guys," Willow said. "It's good to be together again."

Buffy smiled as they walked to their designated bedrooms, thinking exactly the same thing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_**A/N: Let me know what you think!**_

Buffy woke up to the smell of pancakes in the morning. She smiled and rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She brushed out the bumps in her hair, which she had cut to below her shoulders, and then she put on her favorite pair of jeans, sweater and red leather jacket. She put two freshly sharpened stakes in the hidden pocket of her jacket just in case.

"Hey, everyone," she greeted her friends who were already gathered around the table. "Pancakes look great, Willow."

Buffy took a plate from the counter with four blueberry pancakes and took the empty seat next to Giles. Dawn was busy listening to Xander talk about his adventures in Taiwan with a few ancient demons that were like mini tornadoes. Kennedy was looking over at Willow smiling with a warmth that could only be defined as happiness.

"So, what are your plans for today, Buffy?" Giles asked, before shoveling a fork load of pancake into his mouth.

"Dawnie and I are going apartment hunting," Buffy answered, Xander and Dawn stopped talking and smirked over at her.

"Any other plans you would like to share, Buff?" Xander raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, and I am meeting Angel for coffee tonight," Buffy admitted.

Giles nearly choked on his pancake.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Giles asked incredulously. "I mean, after all the two of you have been through, do you really wish to begin that again?"

"Giles, I've thought a lot about this, and it's what I want. Besides, the curse is gone, so he's not going to lose his soul again."

The table was suddenly very quiet and tense.

"Were you planning on sleeping with him right away then?" Xander bluntly asked.

"I don't see how that is any of your business, Xander," Buffy replied hotly. "I'm just saying it's not out of the question."

Giles cleared his throat.

"So what kind of apartment are you looking for?" he asked Buffy.

"A large one, so we can all get out of this one as soon as possible," Dawnie replied for Buffy.

"Sorry, Dawnie," Buffy gave her a sad smile. "Was he that bad?"

"In order to be that bad, he'd actually have to be around, Buff," Dawn answered.

Xander patted Dawn's arm sympathetically.

"Sorry we were away for so long," Buffy said.

"It sucked, but at least I know that you got that out of your system, and we can just stay in LA from here on out," Dawn replied.

"Of course," Buffy smiled, but a small part of her knew she wouldn't be in LA forever. Missions and demons would always require her to go after them. Sometimes they might lead her out of town.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Buffy asked the rest of the group.

"Kennedy and I are meeting with Wolfram and Hart today," Willow replied.

"I am getting assigned an office at the firm today," Xander grinned.

"I am getting a job as a librarian," Giles replied.

"What?" all five heads turned to stare at him.

Buffy had assumed he'd look for a job at the firm as well. After all, he was Giles, formerly known as Ripper. She hadn't thought he would revert back to his former undercover occupation as a librarian.

"The books, I lost them all in Sunnydale," Giles explained.

It made sense that he wanted to recreate his collection of researching books again. Buffy could understand that desire.

"Well, I guess we should go, Dawn," Buffy said.

"Yeah," Dawn responded. One by one, they all headed out of the apartment.

"It's perfect," Buffy was telling the real estate agent. "We'll take it."

After examining each apartment the agent had shown them, Dawn and Buffy had found the perfect 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment. It would fit everything and anyone. Buffy still had a lot of the summer funding money left, so she used that to sign the lease with.

Now it was time to transfer their stuff. They called up the rest of the Scoobies and let them know where the apartment was and that they'd be taking all their stuff there. Just in case their dad had a paternal bone in his entire body, they let him know in a note that they had found an apartment and that's why the apartment had been gutted.

After they had unpacked half the stuff, the others showed up. They unpacked the rest fairly quickly. Until the rest of them found an apartment, they were welcome to stay there. Xander slept on the foldout couch in the living room to accommodate the amount of people versus the amount of bedrooms. It reminded him of the days when all the potential slayers had taken over Buffy's house.

At 7:45, Buffy disappeared into the bathroom, and came out looking exceptionally more attractive, especially for just a cup of coffee.

"Mmmm, coffee requires eye shadow these days, huh?" Xander commented, and then regretted it when Buffy punched his arm.

"Alright, I am going out," Buffy let them all know. "Don't wait up."

"Didn't plan to," Xander called behind her in a sing song voice.

"Angel," Buffy said when she saw him in the booth.

"Buffy," he replied with that half smile she loved so much.

"So, how have you been?" she asked after she had settled down.

"Let's just cut to the chase, Buff," Angel smiled.

"Okay," Buffy raised her eyebrows expectantly. Angel had never been much for small talk. He was straight forward and quick to the point, which was one of things she loved about him.

"I am still in love with you," Angel confessed. "I don't think I will ever not be in love with you."

"That's how I feel too," Buffy looked up at him with her searching eyes.

They both reached for the stirring sticks at the same time, and her hot hand touched his icy one. They looked at each other with a gaze so intense it could have burned 1000 vampires.

"Get the check," Buffy whispered. "I'll be outside."

Angel went up and paid quickly. Within moments, he was scooping her up in his arms, and taking her into his limo. They rode back to his apartment, kissing, touching, grasping for the satisfaction that they only could bring each other. Every touch, every kiss was like electricity rippling across Buffy's skin. She had missed this.

He picked her up as the car pulled around to the front door. Angel nodded at the doorman, and made a beeline to the elevator. In the elevator, Angel pressed the Pent House button and Buffy wrapped her legs around his hips, kissing his face and neck the whole time. She wanted to feel him, because she loved him. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Angel rushed out and straight to his bedroom, using his vampire speed. He let Buffy go down and then he took off his shirt. The tone of their kissing turned from desperation to sweet, dear passion.

"You know the curse is gone right?" Angel asked her in between kisses.

"Yes," Buffy whispered, before pulling him into a deep kiss that felt like years long. Then the couple fell onto the bed, and into each other's arms.

Buffy woke in the morning to Angel's arms around her. When he noticed she was awake, he kissed her neck, brushing her hair away.

"Good morning, lover," he whispered in her ear.

"Good morning," she sighed sleepily, turning over to face him.

They shared a sweet kiss.

"I wish we could stay in this bed forever," she sighed. "But I have to go talk to Dawn."

"Yes, you do," Angel kissed her forehead. "Call me and I'll go wherever you want."

"What about coming over for dinner tonight?" Buffy asked.

"Xander is just dying to see you again," she laughed.

"That actually sounds really good," he kissed her nose.

"I will see you tonight then," Buffy said, without moving from her position on the bed.

"So why aren't you going?" Angel asked, chuckling. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"I don't want to move," she laughed. "Alright, I'm getting up. Good thing it's still dark out. Maybe I can sneak back into the apartment without anyone noticing I was gone all night."

"Call me about what time," Angel whispered in her ear as he walked into his closet and got all new clothes on.

She dressed in the clothes that had been strewn all across the floor and then waited for Angel to come out.

"I'm gonna leave now," she told him.

He kissed her passionately.

"I'll be waiting for your call," he called after her.

She laughed and walked the walk of shame back to her apartment, which just so happened to be in the building next door to Angel's. It was odd that she hadn't noticed that last night. She had been a little preoccupied though.

She tip toed into her apartment and tried to make it to her bedroom without anyone waking up, but to no avail.

"Say, aren't those the same clothes you wore last night?" Xander smirked at her.

"Shut up," Buffy couldn't help but smile, she was so happy. She had spent the night with the love of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_**A/N: If we reach 5 reviews today, I will post up Chapter 4 tonight. Hope you like it. Also, I know Buffy and Angel are moving pretty fast, but there is going to be a few more problems yet.**_

"What do you mean he is coming over for dinner?!" Xander demanded. "Are we going to have to get some blood for him or something?"

"Don't worry, he'll have already drunk enough blood," Buffy reassured him. "Besides, he can actually eat human food when he has to. It just tastes a little different."

"Will, you see my point, right?" Xander turned to Willow.

"Honestly, Xander, I think it's great that Buffy is happy again," Willow admitted. "And since when has she ever dated normal guys?"

"Hey!" Buffy protested. "Riley was normal."

"Honey, he was technically human, but he was also a demon hunting general in the military," Willow reminded her.

"True," Buffy sighed, defeated.

"I still don't get why we have to have him over for dinner," Xander pouted.

"Because we want to see him," Dawn interjected.

"You do, Dawnie?" Buffy smiled.

"Yeah, I mean, it's been so long," Dawn replied.

"So it's settled then," Willow decided for everyone.

"I won't be able to make dinner, Buffy," Giles spoke up. "I have some business with Wesley to attend to."

"That's ok, Giles," Buffy smiled.

"Well, I have to get to work," Xander said, grabbing his coat.

"I do as well," Giles followed Xander out the door.

"Kennedy and I are going too," Willow smiled a happy smile as she and Kennedy walked out the door holding hands.

"Well, that leaves you and me, Dawnie," Buffy grinned at her little sister. "What do you want to do, high school graduate?"

"You know, LA is full of these awesome clothing stores that I never could go to all summer..." Dawn hinted.

"I still have some money from the summer," Buffy smiled.

"Let's go!"

They were in Anthropologie within twenty minutes.

"Are you ready for lunch?" Buffy asked Dawn after their arms were loaded with shopping bags.

"Oh, god yes," laughed Dawn.

They went to the Cheesecake Factory and indulged their taste buds.

"God, I haven't shopped like that since high school," Buffy laughed.

"Speaking of high school, I wanted to talk to you about what to do now that I have graduated," Dawn's tone took a more serious note.

"Ok, so what do you want to do?" Buffy asked.

"Wait, you're actually asking me?" Dawn blinked in surprise.

"Why not? You are almost 18, and you actually have a choice, unlike me. No one ever asked me what I wanted to do, but I wish they had."

"I want to work for Wolfram and Hart," Dawn blurted out.

Buffy nearly choked on her spoon.

"Come on, Buffy," Dawn pleaded, sensing her sister's apprehension. "I may not be a slayer, but I still helped stop the apocalypse last Spring."

"Dawnie..."

"Buffy, I don't have anything else that I am remotely good at."

"Dawn, you graduated from high school a year early, that is pretty impressive," Buffy argued. "You have plenty of other things you are good at. I was never good at school, but you are."

"It's not like I am as smart as Willow or anything. I want to help people, Buffy. I like the way I feel when I do."

Buffy remembered how she had had a similar conversation with Willow four years ago. She realized that Dawn really wanted this.

"Alright, I'll talk to Angel," Buffy sighed. "Xander is looking for a secretarty."

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"But, college should still be on the table for the future, got it?"

Dawn nodded.

"You agreed to that?" Willow looked at her friend dumbfounded while she told her about her conversation with Dawn.

"Yeah, she actually reminded me of you four years ago," Buffy admitted. "You told me that instead of going to Oxford, Harvard or Yale, that you would rather stay in Sunnydale so that you can help people."

"I remember that," Willow smiled fondly. "I guess that makes sense then. I mean, did we ever really think she would be a normal girl who went to college after high school after what she grew up around?"

"Exactly."

"So what time is Angel coming over?" Willow changed the subject.

"8:00."

"Are you ready?"

"I am," Buffy smiled. "This time I am ready to spend forever with him."

"No I meant are you ready to stop whatever disaster to happens tonight?" Willow explained. "Let's remember how all parties at your house end."

"Oh, right," Buffy muttered glumly. "Maybe that was just some curse on my old house though."

"Maybe..." Willow mumbled unconvincingly.

"So this guy was your first vampire boyfriend? Do you realize how ridiculous that question sounded?" Kennedy was making her pointed comments while Buffy and Willow prepared the kitchen for Angel.

"I dated a vampire once," Dawn spoke up. "Halloween when I was 15, but he didn't have a soul, so I ended up staking him with a pencil..."

"What is with you Summers girls?" Xander sighed, shaking his head.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Dawn cried, smirking at Buffy as she sprinted to the door.

She opened it to a big, dark haired vampire with a long leather jacket.

"Why, hello there Angel," Dawn smiled. "Come on in!"

Buffy turned her head, and was immediately in attack mode. Kennedy and Buffy appeared behind Dawn and pushed her out of the way, staking the very not Angel vamp.

"Dawn, why did you think that was Angel?" Buffy turned to her, concerned.

"It's been a-a while, I guess," Dawn stammered.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander exchanged worried glances. Dawn hadn't actually been a part of their lives until recently, but they all had memories of her being there since she was born almost 18 years ago. Maybe the memories were slipping. She had invited a vamp whom she thought was Angel into their home. What if another vamp was able to get through the same way and Dawn was home alone. Also, why was a vamp coming to her front door anyways? That was really suspicious. Buffy's thoughts were lost when another knock on the door came and the real Angel walked in.

"Are you sure this is Angel?" Dawn frowned and wrinkled her nose.

Buffy returned to being worried.

"Dawn, do you even remember what Angel looks like?" Buffy asked her sister.

"Now that I think about it, no."

"Angel, do you have any memories of Dawn, besides what I have told you?"

"No, actually I don't," he frowned.

Willow looked thoughtful for a moment, and then spoke.

"Either the monks messed up, or Dawn and Angel have never actually met," Willow pondered.

"We should ask Giles," Buffy decided.

"He's meeting with Wes right now, though," Angel reminded her.

"Tomorrow then," Buffy nodded.

Now that the air had cleared, she smiled at her lover. Here he was, going the extra mile to have dinner with her friends, who had all, at one point, hated his guts.

"So, shall we eat?" Kennedy interrupted Buffy's thoughts.

"Oh, this is Kennedy by the way," Buffy introduced. "She's another slayer, and Willow's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," Angel smiled and held out his hand for her to shake.

Kennedy looked at the hand like it was a dead rat.

"Sorry, I don't like my hands getting cold," she said and then turned around and walked into the kitchen with a smug look on her face.

"Don't worry, she does that to everyone," Buffy reassured Angel.

"So, you are the one who my sister dated during high school then?" Dawn looked at him oddly. "No wonder Mom freaked, Buff. He looks too old for you now. I can't imagine how it looked to her back then."

"Thanks, Dawnie," Buffy laughed.

"Angel," Xander nodded curtly as they entered the living room.

"Xander," Angel smiled. "We are working on getting you that secretary."

"Yupp," Xander replied, reading a copy of Sports Illustrated to the left, so as to avoid his eye patched eye. "I am sure you and Buffy were working very hard on that last night."

Angel and Buffy shifted uncomfortably on the couch.

"Speaking of secretaries," Buffy turned to Angel, trying to ignore Xander's innuendo. "Dawn wants to work at Wolfram and Hart. She finished high school already this summer and she did help save the world last Spring. I was wondering if maybe Xander could have her as a secretary?"

"Actually, that's a great idea," Angel replied thoughtfully. "I had no idea who we were going to get as his secretary anyways."

"YES!" Dawn cried out. "When do I start?"

"How about tomorrow?" Angel smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Sounds perfect!" Dawn replied.

"Ready to be part of Team Awesome, Dawnie?" Xander high fived her.

"Oh yeah!"

Angel turned back to me.

"So when do you want to start work?" he asked.

"Tomorrow's Thursday, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Angel replied.

"Well, I would love to start tomorrow, but I think I am going to need someone to show me around and teach me about the place."

"As CEO, I would be honored to be that person," Angel half smiled at her.

"Would you now?" Buffy smiled, and then they both leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Seriously, not before dinner," Dawn shook her head at the couple.

"You are lucky I had my eye patch on you and not my eye," Xander said from behind the magazine. "Speaking of disgusting occurrences, how is Cordelia?"

"She, uh, died… last Spring," Angel said looking down at his hands.

"What?" Xander said, folding up his magazine. "You're not serious. How did she die?"

"Cordelia's dead?" Buffy looked at Angel incredulously.

"She was in a coma after she gave birth to this supernatural being, it's a whole Powers That Be deal," Angel explained.

"Wow," Xander said. "I guess I wasn't really expecting that. I am going to go help Willow in the kitchen."

"Xander…" Buffy looked at him, full of sympathy.

"I'm fine, Buffy, really," Xander gave her a small smile before exiting the room.

"She was his first love," Buffy told Dawn, who looked confused as to why Xander was behaving so oddly. Dawn had, after all, only really seen him with Anya. Cordelia had been during a time when Buffy kept her family, friends and slayer duties very separate.

"Why'd they break up?" asked Dawn quizzically.

"I'll let you ask Willow about that one," Buffy smiled, and Angel, who was in on the joke, smiled with her.

Dawn frowned at them, looking at both of them cynically.

"You guys smile way too much," she informed them, before leaving to go to the kitchen.

"Alone at last," Buffy said, as she turned to look into Angel's eyes.

"Mmmm," Angel sighed, smiling.

"Your friends haven't changed a bit, Buff," Angel grinned.

"You're telling me," Buffy laughed. "Well, wait til you catch up with Willow at dinner. She has definitely changed a lot."

"Yeah, what happened to Oz?" Angel asked.

"He left, and then Willow met this girl named Tara…." Buffy launched into the story, so as not to let Willow go into the painful parts later on.

"Wow," Angel replied when Buffy finished. "She was just doing small magic when I left. I never thought she'd be like that."

"Yeah, she is pretty powerful," Buffy agreed. "It used to be scary for all of us, but then she learned how to control it with Giles's help."

"Dinner time!" Dawn called from the kitchen. Buffy gently grasped Angel's hand and led him behind her to the table.

"Looks good," Angel smiled. "I bet it tastes good to humans too."

"Thank you," Willow accepted this as a huge compliment.

"So, I've heard all about the adventures of Xander and Buffy this summer, how about the rest of you?" Angel began the conversation.

"Well, Kennedy and I were in Cleveland," Willow began.

Buffy watched with a smile as her friends and Angel kind of got along. Dawn seemed to like him, and caught her eye, shooting her a knowing look. It was nice to see them all getting along. Maybe this will work after all, Buffy thought. Then she silently cursed herself, hoping she hadn't jinxed it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_**A/N: This chapter is finally into the action.**_

Buffy woke up to Angel's arms around her. It was a wonderful feeling. He may be cold skinned, but he was hers.

"Good morning," Angel murmured in her ear when he noticed she was awake. "Ready for a day at the office?"

Buffy moaned and smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his bare, muscular chest.

"We'll see," Buffy said.

Angel leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Maybe you should take a shower then," he suggested.

"That does sound like a good idea, only I might need some company in there," Buffy grinned provocatively at Angel.

"Well I just so happen to be free right now," Angel smiled.

"Then let's go," she laughed.

They snuck into the bathroom next door. It was early in the morning, and everyone else was still asleep. After dinner last night, Angel had spent the night.

They let their towels drop in the bathroom and began to kiss like only Angel and Buffy could. They were so preoccupied they forgot to lock the door.

Just then, Xander woke up and began trudging over to the bathroom. He was too sleepy to care which bathroom of the three he should go into, and just opened up the first one he saw.

"AHHH!" Xander was now fully awake after the scene he had just witnessed.

"XANDER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Buffy shouted, embarrassed and angry.

She and Angel both grabbed their towels to cover themselves while a red faced Xander was covering his one good eye, trying to forget the scene he had walked in on.

"Oh my god," Buffy said, covering her face with her hands. "I can't believe that just happened."

"Maybe you should designate who uses what bathroom, so that there's no more confusion," Angel suggested.

"Yeah, no shit," Buffy sighed.

Just then, Willow and Kennedy followed by Dawn and Giles came running out into the hall.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Giles demanded. "Why was there shouting at this ghastly hour?"

Then the four of them noticed what Buffy and Angel were wearing, and turned to see Xander's stricken face.

"Xander walked in on us, well, you know," Buffy looked down at the floor, keeping her towel in place.

"Oh," Giles said, turning away from Buffy so as to not look at her in her current clothing situation. "Perhaps it is time that the rest of us found our own homes."

"Yeah, that'd probably be best," Xander said with a grimace, while Willow, Kennedy and Dawn snickered behind him. "I'm going apartment shopping today."

"Well, I am going to close this bathroom door now, if you don't mind," Buffy said, still red in the face.

Xander found a one bedroom in a lower floor of the same building. He didn't want to be excluded from the Scoobies by being too far away, but he did need his space at the same time.

"Kennedy and I took the apartment next door," Willow told Buffy later that night. "We want to be a part of Dawn's life and everything, but I don't think living together works as well as it used to."

It was a two bedroom apartment, and Willow told Dawn that she was welcome to use the second bedroom as her second bedroom.

Buffy was glad that Willow and Dawn were close again after what had happened a year and a half ago.

Giles had found a place closer to his library. He told them all that they were welcome anytime.

Angel came over that night, and they both went off to patrol, leaving Dawn with Willow, not that she needed a babysitter.

"Buffy, do you ever think that maybe you are babying Dawn a little bit?" Angel asked her once they reached the cemetery nearby.

"I don't know, I guess it's just hard for me to watch her grow up already."

Then a vampire snuck up behind her, and she round house kicked him until he was cornered. She watched as he turned into dust.

"You seem better than before," Angel commented. "Not just that your fighting experience has improved, but that you yourself have gotten more powerful."

"I know what you mean," Buffy said as she staked another vamp mid-step. "I feel stronger and faster."

"When did this happen?"

"I think it happened in the Hellmouth last Spring."

"What do you mean?" Angel looked curious.

Buffy ran and staked a vampire 25 feet from her and then returned to walking with Angel.

"In the Hellmouth, I was wounded. Badly wounded. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of there. I had almost accepted the fact that I was going to die, when The First came to me, taunting me. I stood up and killed it. I was dying, and then I stood up like I felt no pain."

"I think the Powers That Be had something to do with this," Angel considered, as he helped Buffy tackle three vamps at once.

"You think so? I don't know much about them."

"They control everything pretty much."

"Huh. They sound like nice people."

"They're not that bad, but you do have to bring them a gift if you visit them."

"I want to visit them," Buffy stopped walking. "Let's go talk to them."

Angel looked at her and considered her expression of stubbornness.

"Okay, I will find a gift for us to take," he finally agreed.

"Back to your place?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah."

A Chin Dynasty vase was the gift chosen by Angel. Hand in hand, they walked to the post office, and the secret entrance to the Powers That Be. Angel sprinkled some type of liquid on the goblet and then Buffy walked through the portal, feeling it shut behind her.

"What have you brought us?" a man and a woman, both having blue and gold skin, appeared on a step in the stone room.

"A vase from the Chin Dynasty," Buffy held it up in offering. It flew from her hands to the woman's. The pair smiled at Buffy.

"What is it that you seek, child?" the man asked.

"Information on my power," Buffy replied.

"Your power is great," responded the woman. "Recently it has changed and increased, has it not?"

"Yes, that's why I am here," Buffy replied. "I want to know why it did and what it means for me."

"My dear, do you not know?" the woman stared oddly at her.

"I don't think she does know," the man spoke to the woman. "You are immortal. You saved the world from thousands of apocalypses by changing how Slayers are called. Every time a slayer saves the world, it's because of you. We gave you the power of a god, because you tipped the balance between good and evil forever on the light side. For that, we made you immortal."

Buffy was dumbfounded.

"So I'll never age, never grow old, never have children?"

"Well you can have children, but the other parts are true."

"If that is all, we bid you farewell," the man ordered, simultaneously sending Buffy back through the portal.

Buffy flew and landed in Angel's arms. Angel looked at her, concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Angel, I'm immortal," she looked at him, still trying to figure out the meaning of the word.

"What?" he asked, clearly shocked by her response. "They made you immortal?"

Buffy stood up and faced him, regaining her confidence.

"They said that I have the power of a god now," Buffy said, still trying to believe it herself.

"Wow," Angel responded. "That's big."

"Yeah," Buffy responded.

"We should go tell Giles," Angel decided. "He'd want to know."

"Do you we need to tell someone at the firm as well?" Buffy asked.

"I'm the CEO, Buffy. Who else would we tell?"

"True."

They walked back the way they came hand in hand. They were both deep in thought, wondering what it meant for them, now that Buffy was immortal.

"We need to pick up Dawn along the way," Buffy interrupted the silence. "I still need to talk to Giles about her memory."

"Okay, we can do that," Angel nodded.

Once they arrived at Giles's apartment, they could smell the Earl Grey tea wafting from inside the kitchen. Buffy smiled, thinking of how many times she had smelt that scent and felt at home. Giles offered them some, but Buffy and Dawn politely refused.

"So what brings you three here?" Giles asked, after sitting down on the couch across from them.

"Well, first, I think we should talk about the Dawn issue," Buffy decided.

"I am not an issue," Dawn glared at her sister.

"Sorry, poor choice of words," Buffy rolled her eyes. "Anyways, Dawn can't remember ever meeting Angel and Angel can't remember ever meeting Dawn. We have two theories: either the monks screwed up, or they actually never did meet. The thing is, it's as if a cloud is covering that part of my memory, as if there is a mistake but we aren't quite catching it."

"I see," Giles considered for a moment. "Dawn, before Glory came to town, do you remember ever actually meeting Spike?"

Buffy and Angel looked at each other confused.

"Now that you mention it, no," Dawn said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"That doesn't make any sense, because he was at our house when I was still in high school, so was Angel."

"I think it might be a vampire thing," Giles said as he sipped his tea. "Buffy, do you remember when that demon gave you the power to read minds, and you couldn't read Angel's?"

Buffy nodded.

"I think the monks used a similar kind of spell, more of a reflective memory charm," Giles explained. "They hardly expected there to be so many vampires close to a slayer, so they never planned for that possibility."

"So there's nothing wrong with Dawn's memory?" Buffy confirmed.

"No, nothing wrong, the monks were very thorough aside from vampires," Giles laughed.

"Okay, for this next part, I am going to ask you to leave the room, Dawn," Buffy looked at her pointedly.

"You're joking right?" Dawn looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "There is no way in hell I am leaving."

"Dawnie, it has nothing to do with you," Buffy told her. "It has to do with me and Angel and Giles are going to be the only ones who know. I can't tell Willow, Xander or you yet. It's not the right time."

"You're serious?" Dawn squinted at her. "You will eventually tell me?"

"Yes, I just have to know what it means first," Buffy assured her.

"I don't want to, but I will be waiting outside the door," Dawn said.

Once the door was closed behind her, Buffy turned to Giles.

"Ever since that day in Sunnydale, I have felt this new strength inside of me. I didn't know what it was, so I told Angel about it tonight. He thought it might have something to do with the Powers That Be, so we visited the Oracles."

"What did they say?" Giles asked encouragingly.

"They made me immortal."

"Because of what you did with the slayers?"

"Yes, but I mean it wasn't me, it was Willow," Buffy explained her frustration.

"Yes, Willow performed the spell, but you told her to," Giles explained. "You orchestrated the entire plan. You made the choice to become one of many instead of one of two."

"Do you think Faith is the same way?" Buffy asked.

"They only give this kind of power to one person, Buffy," Giles told her. "They would have seen you as the most worthy, not Faith."

"Why?"

"Because you were willing to die, so long as you killed as many of that army as you could. Faith always saw it as a suicide mission. She was doing it more for herself though, not to save the world."

"Okay, well then, I guess I'm immortal."

"Buffy?" Angel spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"I think it'd probably be okay to invite Dawn in and explain this to her. She already half of it through the keyhole."

"You're right."

Buffy told Dawn, but couldn't tell Xander and Willow yet. They didn't need to know. Death had always been their enemy. They had all three lost important people to that enemy. Now Buffy had the power to stop death, and it didn't seem fair to her.

It was 2:00 in the morning by the time they returned back to the apartment. Buffy and Angel went to their bedroom, and Dawn to hers. Angel just held Buffy in his arms as he watched her sleep.

Buffy woke up around 5:00, never one for much sleep. She smiled at Angel and then sighed.

"Angel, I think we need to have the relationship talk," Buffy said, not looking at him.

"Yeah, we probably do," Angel agreed.

"Also, I don't think I should really work for you or with you, because we didn't get anything done yesterday at your office."

"Well, we did do some things…"

Buffy blushed.

"I mean productive work type things," she said.

"Well, yeah we didn't do any of that."

"Where do you see this going?"

"Buffy you are the only woman whom I have ever loved in all my 247 years. I want to spend the rest of forever with you."

"I love you too."

"Buffy, are you going to want children? Because that is the one of the biggest things I can never give you."

"Angel, I can barely take care of my little sister. I don't want to be a mother. I can't raise children. I am horrible at it."

"To be fair, you took care of Dawn during the hardest years of childhood."

"Doesn't matter."

"So we both are good with not having children and just spending forever together."

"So I'd say the talk went well, and we are good to go," Buffy nodded.

Then they kissed hard and the rest of the morning went as it does when you are in love.

"I told the office I am taking the weekend off," Angel told Buffy in between breaths.

"Good, I wasn't going to let you leave the bed today anyways," Buffy smiled at him.

Meanwhile, Dawn was disgusted with the noises coming from Buffy's bedroom. She may be almost 18, but that didn't mean she wasn't grossed out by all the moaning. Did they ever take a break for god's sake? I mean really, they had to get tired at some point. Then Dawn remembered that they were both immortal now. She guessed that meant they didn't exhaust very easily. Finishing her cereal, she sighed and ran downstairs to Xander's apartment.

"Hey, Xander," Dawn greeted him. "I am ready for work."

"Alright, let me just grab my coat," he said.

She walked into the apartment and took a look around. It was different from his last one. Anya's things had been thrown all over the walls and couches. Now it looked almost bare. All Xander had was a picture from Willow's birthday last year. Anya, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Dawn and Spike were all smiling at the camera from the frame. It was odd, seeing Anya and Spike up there. She missed them both. Anya had always made every moment more awkward but less secretive with her brutal honesty. She was funny too. Dawn always had a good time with her. She would give anything to hear Spike call her "Little Bit" right now too. He had been like a friend to her, even though he hurt Buffy.

"You ready?" Xander approached her from behind.

Dawn brushed away a tear from her cheek and walked past Xander towards the door.

"Yupp, let's go."

Xander sighed, taking a look at the picture Dawn had been staring at and knew exactly why she was crying.

He missed her so much it hurt. It filled him with this echoing pain in his abdomen that he could never stop or quell. It just hurt day in and day out. He had gotten to the point of just living every day with it, pushing past it. Over the summer, it had gotten a little better, but it was still so painful.

"Anya, I miss you ," he whispered to the picture before heading out the door after Dawn.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_**A/N: Review! Tell me what you think!**_

"Hey," Buffy smiled, opening her eyes to Angel.

"Hey," Angel smiled back. "Today we actually have to work. I got a call last night about some type of weird demon. We gotta check it out. It's not a demon for my human employees to deal with."

"Okay," Buffy shrugged. "I was kind of missing the action anyways. LA isn't quite as evil as a Hellmouth, ya know?"

"And for some reason it's nicknamed the city of the devil by most," Angel grinned, tickling Buffy.

They laughed together, and then got ready for work, resisting the temptation to stay in bed all day.

"I should probably take a shower by myself this morning if we are going to spend a sexless day at work. Didn't we discuss us not working together because of this very reason?"

"I think we should give it our best shot beforehand. We did work together once before, for three entire years."

"Thank god you remembered that, I thought we might actually have to work separately."

Angel kissed her sweetly as she pulled on her robe and grabbed a towel. They shared a look of sweet bliss.

"Go on, I will meet you at the office," Buffy murmured in his ear. "I think you should catch up on any work I've distracted you from over the past two weeks."

Angel looked at her and flashed her a look of surprise.

"I suppose I do have a lot of work to do, I guess I hadn't really thought about it."

"I will be there in a few, alright?" Buffy smiled, kissing him before walking to the bathroom. "Get some work done, boss."

Angel smiled at her retreating figure, then he went to work. Just as Buffy had predicted, there was a pile of paperwork waiting for him. He, however, was much more interested in the demon Wes had called him late last night about. He handed the paperwork off to a temp and told her to figure out what he needed to really look at from that pile. Then he searched out Wes.

"What kind of demon?" he asked, bursting into his office.

"Well, um, that's the thing, we've never seen anything like it on earth before."

"What?" Buffy said, walking in just then. "Like the First?"

"Well, no, it appears to be just a demon."

"So why hasn't anyone heard of it before?" Angel asked. "Isn't a demon's goal in the afterlife to walk the Earth?"

"This isn't just any demon, Angel," Wes remarked.

"Woah!" Buffy exclaimed. "You are saying that it came from a hellmouth, aren't you?'

"Actually, it was created by a hellmouth," Wes corrected. "Otherwise we'd have history about it."

"But Cleveland is across the country," Angel argued.

"There's no way it could have gotten past all the slayers in between Cleveland and LA without us hearing about it," Buffy puzzled.

"That's because it's not from the Cleveland hellmouth," Wes explained.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked. "Wait, did a hellmouth form underneath LA?"

"Buffy, hellmouths take decades to form," Angel reasoned.

"Oh my god," Realization dawned on Buffy. "You mean the demon came from Sunnydale..."

"Yes," Wes sadly informed her.

"How is that possible?" Buffy demanded. "Spike died destroying it!"

"Using an amulet of some sort, correct?" Wes asked.

"Yeah, the one I delivered to her," Angel frowned.

"The amulet is very powerful," Wes began. "It's power is to restore things to their nathral order. Sunnydale was created as a feeding ground for the hellmouth. It's unnatural for that many demons and that much evil to coexist with humans. The amulet destroyed both the hellmouth and the town to fix this."

"So what happened then?" Buffy inquired.

"The hellmouth existed without Sunnydale for many years. The amulet is restoring it to that original state."...

"How do we stop it?" Angel demanded.

"There is only one way," Wes began. "You must destroy the amulet. That will reverse anything done by the amulet without the champion."

"So we'll just go to Sunnydale and destroy it," Buffy decided.

"Easier said than done," Wes sighed. "Sunnydale is now overrun with demons. They have no humans to hide in the dark from, and no slayer to destroy them."

"We'll need an army of slayers then," Buffy nodded. "I think we need to have a Scoobies meeting tonight."

"What should we do til then?" Wes asked.

"Well, Angel and I are going to talk to a more hellmouth experienced Watcher, and I am going to call all the slayers I can. You can do whatever you like."

"I'd like to help," Wes pleaded.

"You could have helped six months ago by telling us about this," Angel pointed out coldly.

"Now we have to lead a crop of newly called slayers into battle and clean up this mess," Buffy growled. "Thanks for the warning."

Wes stayed quiet, knowing they were right. He didn't really think there was anything he could say to calm either of them down. Realizing he was finished pathetically trying to defend his actions, Buffy and Angel spun around and stormed out of his office in unison.

"You go talk to Giles, I'll get everyone else," Buffy told Angel.

LA may be Angel's turf, but when it came to hellmouths and slayers Buffy was in charge. Angel accepted his order without question, arriving at the library in minutes. Much like the Sunnydale High library, this one was nearly vacant of people. Angel had ridden in his car with its blacked out windows. He pulled his leather jacket up in order to cover his face. As soon as Giles saw him, he ushered him into a back room. Giles could immediately tell that something was seriously wrong from the look on Angel's face.

"What is going on?" Giles demanded.

Angel launched into the summarized version of Wesley's explaination. Giles expression was livid by the end.

"If I had only asked what the name of the amulet was... The Amulet of Sacara, of course! Why didn't he tell anyone?!"

Giles was turning red in the face and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

"Buffy is making some calls. We are going back to Sunnydale. This time, there won't be a Sunnydale left when we leave."

Giles nodded, narrowing his eyes at the entire situation.

"We should find the others and fill them all in."

Just then, Buffy burst through the doors.

"I've got 30 slayers on their way here," she said, using her war general voice. "Let's round up anyone important here for a breifing. I need to grab some things from my apartment, so I'll get Willow, Kennedy, Dawn and Xander while I am there."

"I'll go with you," Angel decided.

"I'll find out everything I can about this amulet," Giles informed them.

Buffy and Angel swept out of there and took a taxi to the apartment complex. Buffy changed into her patrolling outfit, and then pounded on Willow's door.

"Apocalypse time," Buffy told her.

Willow and Kennedy were ready to go in thirty seconds.

"Do we get dinner at the meeting?" Kennedy asked.

Buffy hadn't realized how quickly the day had gone by. It was almost six o'clock.

"Giles is cooking," Buffy stated. As they made their way downstairs, Buffy knocked on Xander's door, but there wasn't a stir from inside.

"Something's up," Buffy stated nervously. "Dawn's with him too."

Buffy turned the unlocked doorknob and walked into a dark and lifeless living room. Angel, Willow and Kennedy flanked her. Grabbing a stake from inside her jacket, she slowly turned the door handle for the bedroom, not sure what she would find. She prepared herself for the worst and opened the door to find a scene so revolting she had to scream.

Dawn and Xander were on the bed, their limbs so entertwined that they looked like one whole person. They were half naked and their lips were so sucked together it took them a while to break apart when they heard Buffy's scream.

"Oh. My. God." Willow spit the words from behind gritted teeth.

"Xander, you have 10 seconds to run before I do something I might regret tomorrow, like killing you," Buffy told Xander in the calmest voice she could muster. "Dawn get your shirt on now."

"Buffy, I-I..." Xander stuttered.

"9..."Buffy seethed.

Xander grabbed his shirt and ran, sending Dawn a quick look of apology.

"Buffy, I know you would kill him, since you're a slayer and all, but I have normal human girl strength, so can I go kill him?" Willow asked.

"Please do," Buffy nodded.

"Kennedy, you should stay here," Willow warned her lover. "I might try to use your slayer strength."  
"I actually might need you for this anyway, Kennedy," Buffy announced, still staring at Dawn.

"I'll be glad to help," Kennedy seemed upset as well. She and Dawn had gotten close since they moved to L.A.

"Dawn, upstairs, now," Buffy ordered.

"Buffy, do you want me to stay? Because I would like to help Willow…" Angel asked gently.

"Stay," Buffy responded. "I am going to need your help on this lecture too."

The four of them rode a very silent elevator ride back to Buffy's apartment, Buffy and Dawn exchanging looks the entire time. As soon as they reached the apartment and closed the door behind them, Buffy opened her mouth.

"Sit," she ordered Dawn in a tone that was not to be challenged.

Buffy paced back and forth in front of Dawn for a minute. Angel and Kennedy watched Buffy, nervous for how she was going to react. They chose to sit on the couch facing Dawn behind Buffy. They looked at each other and exchanged a fearful glance.

"Before I begin," Buffy spoke, turning to Dawn. "I'd like to hear how and why this happened."

Dawn looked at her hands and took a deep breath.

"I am 18 now," she said, strength coming into her voice. "Which legally makes me an adult. I can do whatever the hell I want."

"That doesn't mean you can do whoever the hell you want," Buffy snapped. "Especially when that person is supposed to be trustworthy enough to take care of you."

"Xander and I are only four years apart," Dawn shot back. "It's not like you never did anything like this."

"The age part is only the tip of the iceberg, but if you want to start with that, then go for it. You are only just 18! He is 22! That is a huge age difference. He's had two very serious relationships while you were still just growing up."

"I'm all grown up now! And since we're going into ages, what about when you were 17 and had sex with Angel, who was how old? 243?"

"That was completely different!"

"In what way? Just because you're the slayer?"

"That and the fact that I made a mistake. I wish I would've waited and not acted so rashly. If you recall, it ended with Angel losing his soul and me having to kill him."

"Xander is human, first of all, so that wouldn't happen."

"Xander also just lost the love of his life," Buffy cried. "Angel and I were the loves of our lives, there was no doubt there."

"And? I am 18."

"And I no longer can trust Xander with you. I was worried sick about you tonight. I thought I was going to open that bedroom door to find you and Xander dead!"

"I didn't think…"

"That's right! You didn't think!"

"Buffy…"

"Dawn, tell me how it happened."

"But…"

"I am just going to get angrier the longer it takes for you to tell me."

"We were working, and we were both sad about Anya and Spike."

"So you decided to have sex because you were sad?!"

"I'm sorry, what did you do with Spike a year and a half ago? Was that any different?"

"Yeah, I actually died and then came back to life. It was kind of a big thing."

"Right, well how long are you going to keep playing that card?"

"That's enough!" Buffy shouted. "I need something to punch. I'll be back. You two try talking to her."

With that, Buffy walked out the door. Of all the times this could have happened, now was so not right. She and Angel had woken up so happy in their perfect little world this morning, well, Angel technically hadn't woken up, but, whatever. Now they were facing unimaginable horrors in Sunnydale and Dawn was "shacking up" with Buffy's supposed best friend. Buffy had seen Xander change over the summer. He had had casual sex all summer with random women. She hadn't really thought of it as a problem. It was just his way of grieving over Anya. Buffy had never considered that he'd pull this on her sister though. Xander had crossed a line tonight. Buffy kicked a loose rock on the sidewalk. She couldn't believe how irresponsible he was being. He knew that Dawn had always had a crush on him and he had taken advantage of him.

Suddenly a hairy looking demon rushed out of the shadows. Buffy was powered by her rage and in a manner of five seconds, she snapped his neck. It made her feel a little better. She watched him melt into goo, then disappear. This might have been the Sunnydale demon Wes had told her about. It was too late to confirm that now, but there were plenty more waiting in the nearby small town. She realized that as much as Xander seducing Dawn was a betrayal to her, she needed them both in order to go into battle again. Xander had the necessary military skills. Although Dawn was just an ordinary human that at one point had been a ball of energy that opened the gates to all the realities, she had this strength in her that the group dynamic needed. Dawn was ready to fight, even to the death. Buffy realized that part must be a Summers women thing.

She turned the corner to find Willow screaming at Xander.

"Willow, stop," Buffy calmly placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder.

"Buffy, he deserves to suffer," Willow explained in a dark tone.

"What he did was wrong, but we need him for what comes next."

Xander looked at Buffy hopefully, like she might forgive him.

"There is one thing that does need to be done before that though," Buffy frowned. "Something I'm forgetting… What am I forgetting? Oh, yeah!"

Then she punched Xander in the nose.

"I remember now. Hold your nose back, it's a bit of a walk back to the apartment building."

Buffy called Giles and told him to meet her at her apartment and not his after all. Upon arriving at her door, she pressed her ear to it and almost laughed out loud. She motioned for Willow to put her ear to the door as well and motioned for Xander to stay away. Angel and Kennedy were trying to give Dawn a sex talk.

"It just should be with someone you really care about, Dawn," Angel was saying.

"It's called making love for a reason," Kennedy backed him up.

"Well did you love the people you guys gave it up to?"

"Well, uh, technically, uh…" Angel stammered, thinking of his womanizing days before he turned into a vampire. "Guys are really bad. All they want is, well, sex. Once a woman gives that to a man, but the man doesn't love her, he doesn't respect her."

"Did you disrespect women?" Dawn asked, amused by his flustering.

"Well, I was a bad man," Angel tried to come up with the best response.

"But I should trust you with my sister?" Dawn asked.

"Your sister and Angel are in love," Kennedy responded for Angel.

"Were you in love with the person you lost your virginity to?" Dawn turned to her.

"No, not really, but she was nice… I think…" Kennedy stuttered.

Buffy leaned over to whisper in Willow's ear.

"We should go save them," she hissed.

Willow nodded. They opened the door and both Kennedy and Angel sighed in relief.

"Who punched him?" Angel asked, grinning.

"Me," Buffy smiled back. "But we are going to need him for what comes next."

"I slapped him," Willow offered. "Wait, what do you mean? What's coming?"

"Before this situation happened," Buffy gestured to Xander as he got a papertowel for his nose. "Angel and I had an apocalypse to share."

"Right," Kennedy stood up, gearing for a fight. "What's the problem?"

"Sunnydale may be gone, but the hellmouth is restoring itself." Buffy blunted spat out.

"How is that possible?" Willow asked, shocked.

"The amulet Spike wore, it needed to be destroyed," Angel explained. "It's power restores things to their natural state, and right now it's reversing the restoration it did, thinking that evil is Sunnydale's natural state."

"So whath doth that mean for us?" Xander asked with his bloody nose.

"It means that demons are running the place. They are growing and recreating. There are some demons coming out that have never walked Earth before. Without the townspeople to hide from, the hellmouth has turned into a nest of pure evil."

"I already called the slayers," Buffy informed them. "I didn't dare ask the ones in Cleveland. They've got their own hellmouth to worry about. The most experienced of the rest that can get here by tomorrow are all on their way though."

"Well, then we have a chance?" Dawn responded.

"Not exactly," Buffy sighed. "The place is probably crawling with all kinds of evil by now. Some of it has reached LA already. This amulet is powerful, and the answer to how we win. Destroy the amulet, and it erases any work it's done without the wearer of it."

"So how do we destroy it?" Willow asked.

"That's the question," Buffy shrugged. "Giles is on his way over right now with some books to help us figure it out. In the meantime, we need to make sure our army can withstand the demons long enough for someone to sneak by and get to the amulet. That is our top priority."

"I have a team available at the firm," Angel offered. "They could be ready to go now."

"Perfect," Buffy nodded. "How many?"

"50," Angel replied.

"I think we should do some recon and find out exactly how many demons we are fighting before we start assembling an estimate of an army," Xander replied in his military tone.

"You're right," Buffy agreed, grudgingly.

"We could take the jet," Angel suggested. "Or the helicopter."

"Why don't we get a helicopter, Buff?" Xander tried to joke, but everyone just glared at him so he shut up and sat down at the kitchen table.

"We should go tonight, as soon as Giles gets here," Buffy decided. "In the meantime, get your team together."

Angel nodded and stepped out to make some calls.

Giles walked in not a moment later with a victorious expression on his face.

"The Amulet of Versuces!" he exclaimed, a book open in his hand. "How did I not remember this before?"

"What does it say?" Buffy urged him on. "How do I destroy it?"

"Well it seems simple enough," Giles set the book down and wiped his lenses. "You just stab the gem with a sword made out of titanium… oh, that might be a problem."

Setting the book down, he caught sight of Xander's bloody nose and the bloodstains on Buffy's knuckles.

"I am not sure I want to know what happened here," Giles frowned. "Anyways, let's see if Angel can get a sword made of titanium."

"Sword of titanium?" Angel asked walking back into the room. "You're joking. That's how they killed Versuces in the end… Amulet of Versuces, of course. God, I should've known."

"Wow, so none of you can remember the little extremely important things about vampire history anymore," Buffy remarked.

"Buffy," Angel protested.

"Buffy, if we had had any idea what it was, we would have had you destroy it the moment Sunnydale came to ruins," Giles told her.

"I know," Buffy sighed. "Who was this Versuces guy anyways?"

"A greek demon," Angel began. "He was a vengeance demon, but he went rogue. He went wrong. Vengeance demons aren't supposed to destroy the world, just a few people out of spite and anger. He did unspeakable things without anyone even wishing for them. He broke the rules. The amulet was given to him as a power source when he began as a demon."

"Some witches, uh, put a curse on it once he had gone too far," Giles continued on. "They made it to try and return him to his natural state. It was supposed to make him mortal and human once more. While it had turned him mortal, he had done too much to ever be human again. The only way they could kill him was a sword made entirely of titanium."

"Titanium was the toughest metal one could find back then," Angel explained. "It was stronger than steel and people didn't really understand the full power of gun powder yet. At least, not like they do today."

"So they killed him, and then what happened to the amulet?" Kennedy frowned, curious.

"They hid it on a small Greek island," Angel explained. "But people have been recorded for using it for the past half of a millennium."

"We need to destroy this thing forever," Buffy decided, determined. "Angel and I should go do the recon. You guys stay here with Dawn and figure out the sword of titanium thing."

She thought for a moment about who all would be staying with Dawn and changed her mind.

"Actually, Xander, you are coming with us."

The helicopter flew high over the dense terrain for about ten minutes, and then it lowered down. Angel, Buffy and Xander watched in horror at the scene below them. The hole where Sunnydale had once stood was crawling with hundreds of demons. There wasn't a single square inch of demon free space.

Buffy glanced down and noticed the most important part, a silver glow at the very center of the hole. It was the amulet, in the very center of evil.


End file.
